A Cup Of Tea
by Palmsandsunshine
Summary: When it all boils down, tea really is the thing that connects us all—pun intended. A collection of oneshots that have no correlation whatsoever (except for tea).
1. The Spirit World

Maybe his bones were getting weak, Zuko mused to himself. Maybe the fire nation's long-drawn winters had taken a toll on his weathered body. Or maybe, after all these years, Zuko was finally feeling the pain from all the arenaline-filled fights of his youth.

Those were the days, he supposed. When Aang and Katara still pushed each other around like indignant children. When Toph still found joy in making fun of Sokka's constant clumsiness. When they were all together and young again.

Sokka was the first to go. Then Aang. Then Suki. Then Katara. And now, Zuko himself. Toph was too stubborn to die off like the rest of them. Zuko assumed she would probably pull a Kyoshi and stay alive for over 200 years. She would probably hold on as long as possible, just to break Kyoshi's record.

Zuko had died peacefully in his sleep.

When he woke up, he felt lighter. He looked down at his hands and instead of the wrinkled, softened hands of an old man, he was met with youthful hands. Callous and strong. The hands of a skilled swordsman.

Zuko lifted a hand to his face, feeling tight skin where there should have been wrinkles. He was young again. He was in the spirit world and he was young.

"Zuko?" A familiar voice called out.

The firebender froze in his place. He hadn't heard that voice in a long time, and it certainly hadn't been that young. He turned around, nearly giving himself whiplash in the process.

"Katara?"

"And me too!"

"Aang!"

He bolted forward to embrace the two of them, ignoring the tears that had began to well up in his eyes.

"You guys are here!" Zuko took note of how young his voice sounded, like when he was still a young adult, just barely crowned.

"And you're looking younger than ever!" Katara laughed, throwing her head back.

"I didn't have a say!" He protested. "How come I'm still a teenager and you guys are middle-aged?"

"In the spirit world, when we die, we take the form of the most important moment in our lives," Aang explained easily, setting a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "For Katara, it's when she established a waterbending school in the southern water tribe. For me, it's when Tenzin was born and I was no longer the last airbender."

Zuko allowed a small smile to perk up the corners of his mouth. "What about everyone else? Sokka, Suki? What about Uncle Iroh?"

Katara gestured down a path and they all began to slowly walk down it. "Sokka's just a little older than me. It was when he became chieftain of our tribe. Suki's your age. Her defining moment is when she opened an arts school on Kyoshi Island. As for Iroh... I think it's best you find that out yourself."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Aang paused at a particularly sharp bend in the path. Both he and Katara stopped. "Go on," Aang encouraged, a wide grin on his face.

Zuko looked at Katara's and Aang's twin smiles. He shook his head in amusement, continuing to walk down the path, waving them both goodbye.

Once he made the turn, he realized exactly why Aang and Katara had wanted to give him a moment alone.

Because there was Iroh, in all his glory, with Lu Ten sitting at his side.

"Uncle."

Zuko didn't know how to react. He had imagined this very moment hundreds of times, ever since his Uncle died a year after Zuko had been crowned Fire Lord. He had imagined himself screaming, crying, but he had never imagined himself being stunned into silence.

"Nephew! Come join your cousin and I for a cup of tea."

Zuko didn't say anything. Instead, he sat down in a lotus position in front of his Uncle and cousin, accepting the steaming cup of tea.

For once in his life (or afterlife), Zuko didn't complain as he sipped his Uncle's tea.


	2. Lavender and Family

Perhaps there were many euphoric moments like this in life. Toph wouldn't know, since her life up to that point had been very short (but _far_ from uneventful). At twelve years old, she was arguably the world's most accomplished earthbender. She helped take down an entire Fire Nation Air Fleet. She invented an entirely new sub-division of her element. She taught the avatar how to bend earth. And she did this while blind, flying around on a smelly bison that didn't know how to fly straight.

Sparky was crowned—good for him—and Aang and Katara had finally confessed to one another. Iroh opened his tea shop in Ba Sing Se. Families were reunited, friends were found once again. But even in that euphoric state full of her friends, both old and new, Toph found herself standing alone.

"Toph?" Zuko asked, stepping near and carrying a tray of cups. Toph turned to him, grateful that Iroh had chosen marble floors in his tea shop instead of the cedar wood he'd been eyeing. She could see him clearly. "Do you want a cup of tea?"

"Sure," she reached out, accepting the small cup as graciously as possible. As she brought it up to her lips, she froze.

 _Green fabric, soft as the sea foam. Bright pink lipstick. Gold cutlery and pristine china. Purple flowers, seeped in boiling water_.

"What tea is this?" She found herself asking. "It's not jasmine, right?"

"No, Uncle asked me to pour a new pot," Zuko answered, setting the tray down on a nearby table and taking a cup of his own. "This is a flower Uncle and I came across on our travels. It's lavender."

Of course it was. _She_ always drank lavender tea, and forced the rest of the family to drink it, too. Toph despised the taste, strictly because of _her_.

Despite this, she forced herself to take a sip. The smell was nowhere near as overbearing as _she_ made it. The taste was softer and more pleasant, and had a small hint of honey and sugar cane.

As she took a sip, Zuko began to speak. "Lavender is a purple flower. It's properties include calming and it's a remedy for—"

"Insomnia," Toph cut in, already knowing the answer. "The plant is a bush that enjoys nutritious, well-drained soil and lots of sun. I know. My mother drank lavender tea every night. She had horrible nightmares and thought the tea would somehow help her. It never did."

Zuko looked down to his cup, and Toph felt his heart beat faster. "Oh."

"I haven't been home in nearly four months. I wonder if she still drinks lavender tea."

"Why don't you find out?"

"Are you kidding me?" She snapped, furrowing her eyebrows. "My parents probably hate me. I abandoned them; their only heir and daughter, gone to help some strangers."

"At least they love you."

"How would you know. They were so afraid of me getting lost or something."

"At least they cared about you."

Toph sighed. "Oh, Zuko..."

"Toph, trust me when I say this. Your parents care about you. They were so afraid of losing you, they locked you up in a cage that you metalbended your way out of."

At this, Toph couldn't resist a snicker. "Since when did you spout wisdom like Uncle Iroh?"

"I spent two years with him, I'd hope I at least learned something."

Toph took another sip of her lavender tea, breathing in the calming scent. The scent that reminded her of the rich matcha cake served after dinner time, and mothers.

Toph Beingfong was a widely-known face in Gaoling. Even before she had helped the Avatar learn earthbending and gone off to save the world, her name alone meant she deserved power. Her money made her a princess of her city.

Toph wanted to sneak into the city discreetly. She wore her everyday robes, didn't do anything special with her hair or makeup, and yet, townspeople stopped walking just to greet her. Merchants offered her gifts from their stores. Little children looked up to her in awe. But it wasn't the same as before. Before, they called her _Lady Beifong_ or _Lady Toph._ Now, they called her _Master Toph_. Now, she was known for her bending prowress and not her status.

Zuko and Suki were at her sides. It wasn't really their decision: Aang, Katara, And Sokka were nearly forced to go as well but they had pressing water tribe business to attend to. Zuko offered a ship to take Toph there, and Suki was interested in going to Gaoling, because they were Kyoshi Island's biggest trading partner yet they had never met in person.

Toph paused right outside the gates of her family's property. She had never actually been in this situation. The few times she had been out of the house was inside a carriage. Now that she was here, she had no idea what to to.

Zuko took the initiative. Although he was in the normal commoner fire nation robes, he still had a small battalion of fire nation troops backing him. He gestured for one of his soldiers to knock on the door.

They opened shortly afterwards.

Much to her surprise, Toph's father was the very first person they saw.

"Fire Lord Zuko, Lady Suki. I welcome you into my household! Please, we were just having a cup of tea with our lunch. Care to join us?"

Toph should have expected it. Her father was so ashamed of her that he just pretended she didn't exist. Instead of causing a scene, she dipped her chin and followed behind Zuko and Suki silently.

The walk to the dining room was exactly how Toph remembered it. The floors were the same polished granite, the walls featured the same artwork. The hallway still smelled of incense and whatever meaty dish the kitchens were cooking up. And once they cleared the corner to enter the large dining hall, Toph wanted to burst into tears.

"Welcome!" Her mother crowed, spreading her arms.

The group was seated at the table, servants placing silverware and china on the table in front of them.

There was silence at the table for a good few moments as they waited for the food to be served.

"Toph?" Her father called out, gently, hesitantly.

"Yes father?" She replied a bit too eagerly.

"Would you like some tea?"

"Sure."

Toph expected a servant to come rushing in the room, carting in a tray of tea and the cups with gold leaf on them. Instead, Toph froze as her father stood up himself, reached over his plate of roasted duck, picked up his wife's personal pot of tea, and stood up to pour it for Toph.

As the liquid was carefully tilted into Toph's cup, a strong lavender scent washed over the young earthbender. She breathed it in greedily, desperate for the only scent of home she remembered.

"My daughter," her father said gently, setting the teapot down on the table in front of her. "Welcome home."

As Toph reached forward to pick up the cup, she faltered. The lavender scent would have been nauseating with how it permeated the air. But Toph felt nothing but comfort. With a shuddering breath, she shot up and ambraced her father tightly.

"I've missed you so much, Dad."


End file.
